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ALB Test fee rises condemned
Page 30
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BOTH THE Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association have condemned the Government's proposed increase in the cost of a hgv driving test fee.
The fee is due to rise from £24 to £33.50 on March 1.
According to the FTA, as the £24 fee included £2 to cover non-recurring costs, the current proposal was, in fact, an increase of 50 per cent.
As the previous increase in fee was in the order of 200 per cent, says the FTA, implementation of the new fees would mean a test in April 1978 costing 318 per cent more than in July 1976.
And RHA industrial relations officer Chris Dixon has written to Transport Minister William Rodgers advising him of the Association's main concerns over the increase.
They include the comment that "The road haulage industry is expected to exercise • certain restraint in price increases in order to contain inflation, and yet it is apparently permissible for Government departments to increase fees by over 300 per cent."
And, particularly worrying for the RHA, Mr Dixon points out, is that: "Many companies already prefer to attract trained drivers from the road haulage industry, rather than pay the cost of training, and a higher fee would inevitably lead to an increase in poaching."